Bathory

Bathory �The Return��
Black Mark, 1985
Tyrant:
Bathory�s second album peels away some of the grime of it�s self titled predecessor with a heavier slightly cleaner production whilst retaining essentially the same style of hellish satanic thrash metal. Quorthon�s vocals are a little harsher this time around further separating Bathory from other bands of the era. The Return� opens with a lengthy atmospheric intro leading into the albums two best songs: the ominous �Total Destruction� and the classic �Born For Burning� with its memorable central riff and grim catchy chorus. �The Winds Of Mayhem� is a slightly less interesting affair, followed by the tacky �Bestial Lust� and slightly better �Possessed� featuring some interesting vocal effects. From �The Rite Of Darkness/Reap Of Evil� ( with creepy vocals and crawling slow downs ) onwards there is a noticeable improvement with �The Return Of The Darkness And Evil� rounding out the album in style with a similar ominous atmosphere to opener �Total Destruction�. Overall although not as consistent as the debut, the standout material here definitely make it Bathory�s equal.
Favourite Tracks � Born For Burning ; Total Destruction ; The Rite Of Darkness/Reap Of Evil
Mark � 7/10

Bathory   �Under The Sign Of The Black Mark�
Black Mark, 1986
Tyrant:
Bathory�s third album heralds a vast improvement in song writing and production values for the Swedish legends. Under The Sign� see�s Quorthon�s voice turn into a sickly blackmetal rasp and adds keyboards to augment their grim black thrash attack. Everything has been refined, shorter track specific intros ( see �Chariots Of Fire� ) replace the lengthy album intro�s of old, razor sharp solo�s and guitar melodies now create a chilling ( and much copied ) sound in tracks like the epic �Enter The Eternal Fire� and the cold �Call To The Grave�, and the bands grasp on English has improved seeing better song names and lyrics all round. Light touches synth are implemented into �Woman Of Dark Desires� ( Elizabeth Bathory ) and �Call To The Grave� to add to the harsh atmosphere whilst the thrashy and brutal �Equimanthorn� and �Massacre� keep it simple for the purists. The excellent �13 Candles� sees the band adding chanted backing vocals into their repertoire, and album closer �Of Doom�� adds a cheesy fan orientated track to the bands catalogue. The influence of Under The Sign� on the current blackmetal scene is immeasurable with many bands and albums being mere shallow and inferior attempts to recreate its unique sound and style. Kult classic.
Favourite Tracks � 13 Candles ; Enter The Eternal Fire ; Call From The Grave
Mark � 8/10

Bathory   �Blood, Fire, Death�
Black Mark, 1988
Tyrant:
Bathory�s fourth album Blood, Fire, Death marks a turning point for Quothorn and crew seemingly heading in more pagan orientated direction. �The Golden Walls Of Heaven� ( one of the quicker tracks sounding a little like early Slayer ), and �Dies Irae� ( another fast track with clipped vocals and a heavy slow break down ) are in fact the only two songs on Blood, Fire, Death with any satanic references at all, with the rest of the subject matter devoted towards battle and Viking themes. The opening track �Oden�s Ride Over Nordland� is a musical piece with horse, wind, and pounding hoof samples combining over dramatic choir synth. This soon breaks into an acoustic passage heralding �A Fine Day To Die� with a soft beginning with clean vocals! before breaking into a traditional Bathory piece with dirge style doomy riffs and Quothorn�s growled vocals. From then on in the album follows a fairly standard format, part slow heavy riffs, part fast thrash style riffs and solos, with pounding drums plodding along to keep the beat. The epic flavour of the opening tracks is revisited in the final track �Blood, Fire, Death� with its anti establishment war cry lyrics summoning the oppressed to fight, and lengthy epic rhythms amidst subtle keyboards. This is yet another important and influential release who�s waves can still be felt in the extreme underground scene today. Overall a fine piece of early thrash/doom that rewards the close listener with many layers to unfurl.
Favourite Tracks � A Fine Day To Die , Blood Fire Death , For All Those Who Died
Mark � 8/10

Bathory 'Hammerheart'
Black Mark, 1990
Tyrant:
Bathory�s Hammerheart moves away from the bands satanic thrash metal roots and steps boldly into pagan Norse folklore with a fully Viking themed album. Quorthon has ceased his snarly growls and now sings in a clean epic voice backed by multi tracked backing choirs ( like those on Blood Fire Death ) with a much clearer and more rousing sound. Some aggressive vocals still sprout up occasionally along with a multitude of clever samples that help create a unique heroic atmosphere like crashing waves, galloping horses, old village sounds like blacksmiths etc. The songs sit roughly between the 5-10 minute bracket introduced with acoustic guitar passages and turning into slow heavy, at times thrashy dirge riffs with a slightly fuzzy production. Quorthon�s solo's still crop up at the expected intervals betraying the bands thrash roots but seem gentler and more suitable to the albums feel. Mesmerizing backing chants well up in the background creating a unique listening experience with pagan pride lyrics, and sensational cover art adding to the albums flavour. Once again Bathory provides another influential album and created another genre of Viking metal for latter day bands to emulate. Recommended.
Favourite Tracks - Shores In Flames ; Baptised In Fire ; One Rode To Asa Bay
Mark - 8.5/10

Bathory 'Twilight Of The Gods'
Black Mark, 1991
Tyrant:
Hammerheart part 2? Bathory continue their glorious epic crusade into the realms of Norse mythology this time introducing some Nietzsche inspired lyrics into the fray as well. The production and song writing on Twilight is smoother than that of its predecessor but remains generally in the same vein with long acoustic intros and rousing backing chants accompanying Quorthon�s clean vocals. The chorus choirs are again used to great effect with a smoother sound than they had on Hammerheart Quorthon's voice also has a more mellow professional edge. Some rockier moments appear through out like the stirring 'Under The Runes' which adds a nice touch of variation to proceedings, whilst my only real gripe on here is the fact that the epilogue and prologue of the albums title tracks are to far down in the mix and sound tragically muted. In some respects 'TOTG' is superior to Hammerheart with better vocals, catchier songs and improved production values, but it fails to capture the unique rawness and pagan essence that Hammerheart had. Twilight Of The Gods should appeal to fans of Hammerheart as an equal whilst being different enough to stand up in its own right with slightly longer songs and a more epic sound scape.
Favourite Tracks - Through Blood By Thunder ; Under The Runes ; Blood And Iron
Mark - 8.5/10

Bathory   �Requiem�
Black Mark, 1994
Tyrant:
Requiem sees Bathory drop all the epic pomp of Hammerheart and Twilight Of The Gods in favour of a stripped down old school thrash attack. Quorthon�s brilliant heroic voice has been dropped in favour of a throatier thrash yell reminiscent of his first two albums. Most of the material on Requiem is quite simplistic relying on only a couple of good riffs per song to drive the track home. There are some samples thrown in for variation adding flavour like air raid sirens in �Warmachine� and funeral bells in �Requiem� but for the most part the music is much more straightforward than usual. An annoying repetitive drum sound doesn�t do the album any favours and Quorthon�s new vocal approach also lacks any real charisma or variation. This was a big gamble after releasing two highly praised epic style albums and saw much fan criticism in its time. Although not as bad as some would have you believe Requiem is far from Bathory�s best.
Favourite Tracks � Apocalypse ; Suffocate ; Requeim
Mark � 6.5/10

Bathory   �Octagon�
Black Mark, 1995
Tyrant :
Bathory�s eighth opus sees the Swedes adopting a more accessible and catchy thrash ethic as opposed to the disappointing Requiem. Armed with his usual compliment of thrash riffs both old and new, Quothorn takes in some wider influences ranging from Six Feet Under in �Schizianity�, and even Pantera in �Born To Die�. This is all of course presented with a usual scathing Bathory production which makes the guitars sound both heavy and down tuned and dirty and bleak. Quorthon�s vocals are still a strangled amalgamation of his older rasped style and a traditional yelled thrash style complimenting the scathing material well. Lyrically Octagon concerns itself with a large variety of themes mainly in reference to disgruntled individuals with various forms of mental disabilities doing nasty things to other people. To me Octagon sounds like a fresh incarnation of the bands aggressive and filthy sound of yore, to others it is a poor attempt for the band to capture the modern thrash market. Overall not for everyone, but it addresses the flaws that were apparent on Requiem.
Favourite Tracks � Born To Die , Century , War Supply
Mark � 7/10

Bathory 'Blood On Ice'
Black Mark, 1996
Tyrant:
Blood On Ice is a long rumoured concept album devised in Bathory�s Hammerheart era reconstructed from old tapes from that period along with new songs and elements. Quothorn has deliberately down graded the production quality of the newer material so that it doesn't clash with the older material from his earlier recordings to get a cohesive 80's sound throughout the album. Based around a loose concept not too far removed from the Conan the Barbarian saga interspersed with Norse mythology, Blood On Ice incorporates the best elements from Bathory's two previous Viking based albums ( backing choirs, Viking chants, clean vocals and acoustic passages ) whilst adding more variation in the way of tempo shifts, songs of varying lengths, and a wider variety of samples including blowing wind, whistling birds, flowing water, thundering hooves, bleating animals, and chiming bells all combining to make the best Bathory album to date. Quorthon�s song writing has improved vastly and he offers up a variety of different ideas from acoustic ballads ( Man Of Iron, The Ravens ), to some great Viking fare ( The Lake, Blood On Ice ), to old school rockier efforts ( One Eyed Old Man, Gods Of Thunder, Of Wind, And Of Rain ) to entertain the listener. This is Bathory's finest album of their career and a must for all fans of the epic and grandiose.
Favourite Tracks - The Lake; Gods Of Thunder, Of Wind, And Of Rain; Man Of Iron
Mark - 10/10

Bathory 'Destroyer Of Worlds'
Black Mark, 2001
Tyrant:
Bathory return after another arduous wait for the fans with another fine album that encompasses most of their career throughout the course of its 13 tracks. Opener 'Lake Of Fire' sits within Hammerheart realms with backing chants and clean vocal choirs harmonising on choruses. Next to come is the scathing title track, with a bass sound straight from the bowels of hell, an expectant atmosphere and surging guitars with abrasive vocals. Next is 'Ode' a walk through 'Twilight' realms in the form of acoustic overlays and the Viking choirs again, and then the album turns. The next 7 tracks harken back to the Bathory thrash days and present short brutal yet slow and vile songs with harsher vocals whilst remaining catchy and interesting. Occasionally introducing elements like the harsher choirs found in Blood, Fire, Death through to some sheerly embarrassing sludge rock (Krom). Finally the two closing songs offer some interesting surprises with 'White Bones' fading out with some chiming bells into a lo tech Swedish wank fest of saucy riffing and synth and the closer 'Day Of Wrath' a seething creeper of a track similar to the 'Twilight' material only not Viking based with a more emotive feel that give Quothorn a chance to attempt some of the most challenging vocal carries of his career which he pulls off admirably. A masterful return!
Favourite Tracks - Destroyer Of Worlds, Lake Of Fire, Day Of Wrath
Mark - 8/10

Bathory 'Nordland I'
Black Mark , 2002
Tyrant:
After numerous fan requests Bathory main man Quorthon has returned to the winning Hammerheart/Blood On Ice formula and produced two one hour albums plodding Viking metal anthems. The first of these albums Nordland I features 10 tracks ( two of which are short instrumentals ) of very familiar music we all know and love including clean epic vocals, backing choir harmonies, and heavy low tempo riffs. Most of the material is at a fairly mid paced groove which can make it sound a little samey initially, but tracks like the rocky/punky 'Broken Sword' pick up the pace substantially whilst the ballad style 'Ring Of Gold' slows things down a little with an acoustic vibe. Quorthon�s vocals are well varied from his regular clean Hammerheart style in 'Nordland', to a deeper deathly style in 'Vinterblot', to the raspy style seen in the Destroyer Of Worlds material in 'Dragon's Breath' through to his clean narrative Viking granddad style vocals in 'Ring Of Gold' and that is all in the first 4 songs. Nordland I features the bands best production job to date, however Quorthon has still opted to leave it a little grainy, perhaps to accentuate the old style atmospheres, chunky riffs, and barbaric lyrics. Overall fans of the Viking style Bathory releases will be pleased as Nordland I adds another worthy addition to their collection, recommended.
Favourite Tracks - Nordland , Ring Of Gold , Broken Sword
Mark - 8/10

Bathory 'Nordland II'
Black Mark, 2003
Tyrant:
Recorded in the same session as 2002's Nordland I, Nordland II offers the same breed of epic mid tempo crunchy viking metal as its predecessor. Opening instrumental Fanfare sets the scene for the first track proper 'Blooded Shore' which is a fairly typical Bathory viking hymn with a slightly melodic leaning in the guitars and a passionate vocal performance by Quorthon. 'Sea Wolf' opens with a folky style intro and continues to use the melody to accentuate the choirs throughout the track, whilst 'Vinland' is a heavier track making use of Quorthon's prolific supply of water samples, some stereo effects, and a deep chorus reminiscent of the Hammerheart material. Next up is 'The Land' a heartfelt piece starting with a solo drum track before breaking into the all too familiar melodious meets plodding guitars/choir backing vocals duo, whilst 'Death And Resurrection Of A Northern Son' picks up the pace slightly like the rockier/punkier tracks on Blood On Ice did with similar vocals to 'One Eyed Old Man'. 'The Messenger' is an interesting melodic/epic track with a cool galloping rhythm section and the ever present choirs, whilst 'Flash Of The Silver Hammer' stats with a crisp heavy riff devoid of any atmospherics and only receives some slight deep choirs giving it a unique sound. The final track 'The Wheel Of Sun' is again a fairly typical Bathory viking piece but a very good one with a short acoustic intro. Of the two releases, Nordland II is the heavier more varied one, remaining on par with its eloquent predecessor and being different enough to warrant another purchase. Overall, another glorious, anthemic gem.
Favourite Tracks - The Messenger , Sea Wolf , Blooded Shore
Mark - 8/10

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